ex-angels
by surveycorpsjean
Summary: When Eren is cast out of heaven, he's picked up by a rebellious fallen angel group. He's panicked and in pain, but is instantly drawn to the beauty of the second in command. And maybe...maybe that man is just as drawn to him too. Love happens in the war between heaven and hell.
1. Chapter 1

"_Eren Jaeger."_

_Bright lights flooded his vision, and he was hardly able to see the judge sitting high above the court._

"_Jaeger, answer me."_

"_Your honor," Eren pleaded, pulling on the gold chains that held his arms tightly behind his back. They dug into his skin, pulling blood; they had to be enchanted. "Please, have mercy-"_

"_This is the last time I will repeat myself." The judge bellowed, and smacked his hammer against the gold table, sending sparks. "Did you, or did you not leave the gates of heaven without a permit."_

_Eren swallowed, and looked up at the heavenly jury that glared at him with intensity. He looked down at the ground, "I did..."_

"_Not only did you leave without a god's permission," the judge stroked his beard, "but you entered a restricted area."_

"_Please!" Eren jumped forwards, his chains pulling him back, "Those people were going to die! I couldn't watch-"_

"_People die every day, boy." A jury member spat angrily, "It's not your job to play god!"_

"_We are angels!" Eren screamed, "We're supposed to bless people- to protect them! That village did nothing wrong!"_

"_Only a god may decide when someone will or will not die." The judge hissed. "You are only half a century old. You have seen nothing of death and destruction. You have committed sins against heaven, and you will be punished as such."_

"_He was just trying to help!"_

_Eren swung his head back, to see his sister being held back by his best friend, Armin. Mikasa's eyes were angry and her wings beat desperately to get out of Armin's grasp._

"_Do not speak out of turn, young woman."_

"_Please don't-"_

"_Guards." The judge called, and Eren screamed to his sister as she was pulled out of the courtroom with Armin. _

"_Mikasa!"_

"_Eren!"_

"_Jaeger, you will be extracted immediately."_

_The words stung his throat, and he swallowed back tears. He looked up to the judge, "Please have mercy…"_

"_I'm sorry, boy." The judge tapped his hammer against the table, making the decree official. "Rules are rules."_

* * *

It was dark. Dark and musty... He could feel his arms being pulled above his head, and his legs were tied to the ground. There was a gag placed around his mouth. He didn't know where he was- he didn't know there was a dark place in heaven. The only brightness the room came from his own halo.

A door swung open, letting in a ray of light that landed across his eyes. He squinted as a man wearing a face mask entered pushing a cart with various tools. The door shut behind him, and he spoke with a deep voice, "I will begin the extraction now."

Eren tried begging no, but the gag around his mouth allowed only muffled sounds. There was a needle in his arm and suddenly he was screaming. He could feel the natural gold aura around him begin to shrink. It felt like someone was digging their cold hands into his body and pulling out his soul from the inside. Eren thrashed against the chains, but it was to no avail. He screamed against the gag, and he felt the energy of his halo dim; it slid off his head and landed on the metal floor with a _clank_ noise. It was dead and lifeless now. He watched in horror as the halo turned to dust on the floor. He felt his skin turning pale white, and whipped his head back against the wall behind him.

Eren was crying now- he was feeling real pain- real _mortality _began to shake his body.

Suddenly there was a knife at his back, and he shrieked a silent scream as his wings fell to the ground.

* * *

"Is this one dead?"

"I don't know, how can we tell?"

"Hmm, maybe you should check if he's _breathing_ you fucking moron."

"Wow, you don't have to be such an asshole…jeez."

"He's breathing all right. Should we bring him back?"

"Might as well, Erwin needs all the recruits he can get."

"He's actually kinda cute..."

Eren grumbled as he slowly became conscious again. There was a burning pain in his head, and an even more horrifying pain in his back. As soon as he opened his eyes he cried out in agony.

"Woah! Hey there, buddy." There was a short man with a bald head in his view. He held up his hands in defense, "Calm down-"

Eren cried out and tried to push away from all the unfamiliar faces standing behind him. "Wh- who-" He groaned, and he felt cold stickiness against his body. Was this blood? Oh gods, this was blood.

A woman's voice spoke, "We gotta go bandage him up, or he's not going to be alive for much longer."

There were hands grabbing towards him, and he shuffled back against the ground in panic, "Don't touch me!"

"Fuck, dude, were trying to help you!" A guy with a long face and undercut crossed his arms in anger. "Stop being so difficult."

"Where am I?!" Eren screamed. He couldn't stand, he could hardly feel his legs.

"Calm down, it's going to be okay-"

Eren's breathing became labored as he began to panic- wait _breathing?_ Angels didn't breathe! Eren suddenly felt darkness creeping in his vision and he fell backwards. The last thing he heard was

"_Damn_ he passed out."

* * *

"Well, well, well. Look who's awake!"

Eren felt déjà vu as he opened his eyes to a headache and a room full of strangers. He noticed that everyone was wearing black from head to toe.

"What…" Eren rubbed his face, "What happened-"

"You were extracted." The long faced man crossed his arms.

Eren was suddenly wide awake and shot up in bed, "What!" He cried out as pain swept through his body.

"Woah, woah, calm down." A woman with glasses pressed her hands against his chest. "Let me ask the questions. Don't scare him into shock, Jean."

The woman smiled warmly, "Hello! My name is Hanji! Can you remember your name?"

"…Eren." He looked around at the room full of people, feeling very dizzy. "Eren Jaeger."

"Wonderful!" She clasped her hands together. "Do you remember what happened?"

"N…no." Eren closed his eyes. "Yes? Maybe? I remember them-" his eyes snapped open in shock, feeling emptiness and pain where his wings used to be. "Oh g-"

He found himself emptying his stomach into a trash bin that was shoved in front of him with amazing speed. A feeling of nausea kept sweeping over him as he thought about his white wings slumping to the ground and fading into dust.

"Wow, already throwing up. That's a new record."

"He's reacting better than you did, Connie."

"Shut up! At least I didn't piss my pants!"

"Why you-"

Eren looked up at the people in the room and suddenly realized where he was.

"Eren…" Hanji placed a hand on his shoulder. "You're in the underworld right now. You had your wings cut off, and you were banished from heaven. I'm sorry but…you're mortal now. Please be careful with your body. "

"The underworld…" Eren spoke aloud. His eyes were clouded with anger and he leaned away from Hanji's touch, "I want to leave right now! I don't want to be with- with _demons!_"

"Woah! How rude!"

"This is what we get for dragging his sorry ass all the way here?"

"Listen, dude." A tall woman with freckles spoke. "Erwin is going to come in here and he's going to give you two options- join us and fight, or battle all of hell alone. Your choice."

"Alright, alright." Hanji waved, "That's enough. Give him some space. You all remember how it felt."

Eren's head pounded, and hardly noticed as the room emptied.

* * *

Eren sat in the hospital like bed with his head in his hands. He felt like his whole world has been shattered. He missed his two best friends.

There was a knock at the door, and two men entered. They were both very attractive. The tall blonde one nodded, "I am commander Erwin, and this is my second in command, Levi. I understand you are the newest fallen angel, is that correct?"

"Um..y-yeah, I guess," Eren tried to sit up, but agony lit up his spine and his face contorted into pain.

"Don't." Erwin held up his hand. "We're just here to talk."

"Where did you guys find me?" Eren asked angrily.

"All fallen angels are left at the gates of hell."

"To be eaten up by the hell hounds." Levi snarled. "Fucking, Satan and his dog fetish."

"Wait so… you guys don't…work for the devil?" Eren's brain hurt.

Levi bristled and Erwin shook his head, "No. We're in the underworld, not hell. Only fallen angels and dead souls live here."

For the first time Eren noticed the large black wings sprouting from their backs. _Fallen angels._ Eren thought, _I'm in the home of the ex-angels. I thought it was just a legend?_

"Your back will be in pain for a couple weeks, but in a month or so your wings will grow back."

Eren covered his mouth with his hand in relief, "They will?"

"Yep. But you won't have those pretty white ones anymore. They're gonna be like ours." Levi crossed his arms. "I hope you like the color black."

Eren finally got a good look at the corporal, and noticed that he was noticeably shorter than the commander, but still held a strong presence. Like his existence demanded your loyalty.

In contrast, Erwin had this professional, yet friendly aura about him. "You're welcome to leave if you choose, but I'd like to offer you a place here, with us. Its much safer, I assure you. "

"That one girl said to join the fight…" Eren looked towards the door, "What fight?"

"It doesn't matter." Levi snapped, "But you have to decide now. Are you one of us or not?"

Eren was silent, and looked down at his bandages that wrapped around his entire chest. _ I guess I don't have a choice…I can't survive on my own. I really have no idea what's out there. _ He looked up at the authorities, and nodded his head slowly.

The commander smiled and reached out his hand, "Good, welcome to the team then."

* * *

A couple days later, Eren was still on edge. He felt empty, and hollow, and alone. He had no sense of where he was- no sense of _who_ he was really, now that all his angelic powers were gone. He was no longer immortal, no longer had healing powers or magic.

As he wallowed in self-pity, a barrage of dark angels poured into the room, fumbling over each other and beating their wings.

"Hey newbie!"

"Out of my way!"

"Is he alive?"

"Of course he's alive, Hanji wouldn't let him _die-_"

They crowded around his bed, and Eren's breathing picked up in panic, "Um…"

There was a hand shoved in his face, and he blinked in shock. The bald boy grinned, "I think we got off on the wrong foot. My name's Connie!" Eren was hesitant, but slowly shook his hand.

A girl pushed in next to him, "And I'm Sasha! And that's Jean and Marco and Ymir and Christa and Reiner and Bertholt and-"

"Hey! Let us introduce ourselves, will ya?" Reiner laughed. He gripped Eren on the shoulder, "It's crazy here, but you'll adjust. I heard you told Erwin you'd join! Welcome to the team."

"Uh..thanks." Eren shook his hand. He looked at all the grinning faces, and asked slowly, "Um…why…why are you guys being so nice to me?"

The short blonde girl hopped up on the foot of his bed and smiled, "I know, I remember too. All the stories of how fallen angels are evil and bad. They make us out to seem like gross monsters of hell- but it's just not true! Nope, not at all." She laughed sweetly.

"I know it's all so overwhelming," Marco folded his hands behind his back, and pressed his dark wings flat, "But all we have is each other, you know?"

"I just…I feel so-" Eren clenched his fists, "so-"

"Empty?"

"Yeah." Eren grumbled. "Useless."

"Ill tell you a secret." Reiner grinned. "The angels are flawed. Their extraction serum doesn't get rid of your magic- it can't…it just kind of changes it into something different. You'll see, once you heal."

When the parade of dark angels left, Eren found himself in a better mood.

* * *

Weeks had passed and Eren was feeling restless. His back was healing, but showed no signs of sprouting any new wings. He missed the feeling- the softness of feathers. He was jealous of the others who flew in and out of his room. After countless days in the damn hospital bed, he decided it was time to find out what the underworld really looked like. Hanji left an hour ago, so Eren decided it was now or never.

He pushed his feet out of the bed, and as he stood he slumped against the wall. His balance was shit now that his wings no longer existed. He used the wall for support and tumbled through the doors. He found himself walking down a long hallway. It was tedious; trying to stay upright. He wobbled forwards and backwards like a human baby. He reached the end of the hallway and stumbled through another pair of doors. When he pushed them open, he found himself staring at what could only be described as some kind of underground bunker. There were layers, with rooms upon hundreds of rooms that wrapped up the cylinder shaped building. Dark winged angels flew around the enormous building laughing and hustling busily. Eren was reminded of an ant colony.

"What are you doing out?"

Eren jumped, and was met with a face he hadn't seen since the first day he landed here. "I uh-"

"You're the new kid, right?" The dark haired man crossed his arms with a scowl, "I could see you hobbling from a mile away."

"Sorry, sir." Eren grumbled, "But I just couldn't handle that hospital room anymore."

Levi slumped a little bit, and leaned against the railing and looked down. The bunker extended up and down miles, lit up by torches. "Yeah, it's torturous. Wait until the new bones start growing, you won't want to leave Hanjis side. Human painkillers are fucking great. "

"Where..." Eren thought out loud, "Where are all the souls?"

"Outside." The second in command nodded towards the walls that surrounded them, "We built this bunker just so we didn't have to hear all the souls and their _damn_ crying. Its fucking horrible."

"I didn't know any of this existed." Eren muttered, looking at the enormous underground kingdom.

"You're not supposed to." Levi said strictly. "As far as heaven knows, every ex-angel is left at the gates of hell as food to the Cerberus."

"Why is this kept a secret?" Eren watched as someone leaped over the railing and soared down to one of the bottom levels.

"Because both heaven and hell wants us dead." The corporal's tone was deep, and attractive. "We're a threat to both."

_A threat?_ Eren blinked. He wanted to ask so many questions. As far as he knew…these were all good people. Why would heaven want them dead? Wouldn't they be happy with the fact that they cast them from heaven? Eren looked to the man next to him- he looked annoyed, so Eren kept his mouth shut. The more he looked though…the more Eren's heartbeat quickened. It surprised him, considering he wasn't used to having one.

But angels were naturally attracted to beauty, and as he looked he noticed that the corporal was the _pinnacle_ of beauty. He had long eyelashes and perfect skin. His undercut was precise, and his eyes were cold but stunning.

"Did you hear me?"

"Huh?" Eren blinked.

Levi rolled his eyes, "I don't have time for your stupid ass- I asked _how_ you got into this mess in the first place?"

"Oh…" Eren scratched his head. "I um… I left the gates without a permit."

Levi raised an eyebrow, "That's it?"

"I…also tried to save a village. Some small group in Africa or something. They were going to die for no reason and I-"

"Ah." Levi put his hands into his pockets. "You're a heroic bastard. Interesting."

"What?"

"Nothing." Levi hopped up on the rail and spread his wings- they were larger than any Eren had ever seen. "Get back in the hospital, newbie, before Hanji sees and throws a goddamn fit."

He then leapt off the rail, and sailed up and away.

Eren was left wondering how anyone that beautiful could be cast out of heaven.

* * *

"And this is our room!" Connie spread out his hands in glee. "Your bed is right there, and I sleep here, and Marco has the bed in the left corner, and Jean has the one on the right! If they make weird noises at night just ignore them they're probably banging-"

"Connie!" Marco shrieked in horror and Jean threw a pillow across the room. Connie laughed and shielded his face.

"It's true though!"

Eren let out a laugh- probably his first since arriving, and sat down on his bed. He noticed some fresh pairs of black clothing on his bed. As he examined them, he noticed some were casual, like jeans and t-shirts; and some looked like uniforms. It had padding and the material was tough. He noticed there was also an assortment of toiletries given to him. Eren suddenly realized that he never had to take care of a body before. He'd watched humans, of course. But the thought of having to actually brush his teeth made him miss his immortality.

"Hey, Eren," Marco smiled sweetly. "Can I see your wings?"

"Oh um." His face turned red, "Yeah…but they're not really...grown yet. It's actually kinda gross." He turned around and Marco examined the small bones jutting out of his back. They were covered in leathery black, and were beginning to develop feathers.

"They look good so far though!" Marco grinned. "I can tell they're going to be big and beautiful!"

Eren smiled, "Thanks Marco." He looked down at his hands. "My old wings were…"

"We know." Jean crossed his arms. "We know."

It was silent again, and so Connie piped up to break it. "So! How about I give you a formal tour? We still haven't seen the training arena or the cafeteria!

Eren nodded, with a small smile, "Let's go then."

* * *

**So this first chapter was mostly setup, but i'm excited about this**

**ive had the plot in my head for about a year, so i'm finally doing something about it, hue **


	2. Chapter 2

Eren sat alone in the modest room he shared with three others. Books were scattered across his bed, and he rubbed his eyes, sore from reading for so long. His developing wings were wrapped in bindings to protect the new appendages; but it also rendered him useless. So he stared at the ancient textbooks that Hanji had dumped on his bed three days ago.

"_I know you don't understand a lot yet, but in the freedom corps we're always fighting demons. It's your job to memorize every single demon from hell and their weaknesses. You need to know where they live, what they eat, who they possess, or what they do to the earth. You always have to know your enemy." _

_Eren just stared at the piles of papers she held in her hands, "…every one?"_

"_Yes," She laughed, "You can do it. In heaven they never tell angels of the horrors of hell, but now is your time to learn." _

At first Eren groaned about the thought of so much reading. He never had to read in heaven- or at least it never took any effort. Although, as Eren flipped the pages he found himself feeling ignorant, and amazed by all the creatures he never knew.

"Jaeger."

Eren jumped, the old book slipping from his fingers, and looked up at the figure in the doorway. The second in command stood with his arms crossed. "Uh-"

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Um…Hanji told me I needed to memorize-"

"Not that, moron." Levi hissed, "Training started _fifteen _minutes ago."

Eren swallowed in surprise, "But they told me I wasn't supposed to move a lot until my wings developed?"

"I don't care. You need to sit and watch how shit is done around here. You can certainly learn a lot more from watching then Hanjis stupid fucking books."

"You don't…believe in this stuff?" Eren looked at all the papers.

Levi huffed, "I believe in learning on the job. Now move, before I make you."

Eren's face flushed lightly and moved to stand. Walking was still difficult, his balance was wobbly, and he felt like the world was constantly spinning underneath him. Levi didn't help, but he didn't leave his side either. They walked the long way down the bed corridors, passing room after room. As Eren limped, he couldn't help but sneak a look at the dark angel. He had on the same training uniform that had been put in his room; it was black with padding that looked like armor. It was skin tight and extremely flattering. Eren could see the lines of strong muscles through his uniform.

It was silent until they made it out into the center of the cylinder bunker. Levi hopped over the rail, taking flight in the air. He hovered, saying, "Take the elevator down to the bottom floor, and go down the hallway on the right. You better show up or I'll kick your ass."

Eren nodded, "Yes sir," and the corporal took off towards the lower level.

When Eren finally made it to the doors of the arena, he was surprised to see _how_ big it was. It was like a huge dome; there were large grassy fields, a circular fighting ring, hurdles, and lots of sparring equipment. The lights were supplied from electricity on the top of the ceiling. It made him forget momentarily that he was thousands of miles under the surface of the earth. Eren looked to see all the dark angels in neat lines practicing fighting stances.

Eren swayed over towards the benches and sat in a sigh of relief. He smiled and waved back when a couple of his friend spotted him excitedly. He caught himself surprised by the thought _friends._ He wasn't sure if he could call them that; but he didn't know what else to call them. So far they had been nothing but nice, but it made him homesick of the two friends he left up in heaven.

Erwin was pacing around the fallen angles, calling out numbers for stances. The rows of angels punched, kicked, and shouted in perfect uniform. It was almost like a dance, sort of. They kick flipped through the air; and landed with elegance. Eren couldn't help but think _yep, all these people used to be angels. I can see it in their graceful steps. _

He realized that they held swords; long box cutter like weapons that looked sharp enough to slice a brick in half. They whirled them around, perfectly synchronized as they practiced. It was oddly beautiful. Suddenly they were doing something different; fighting against punching bags, actually. Eren was surprised by how strong they were. His attention was drawn to a loud noise, and whipped his head around to see a robust blonde girl kick a punching bag in half. The sand slumped to the ground, spilling out of the bag, and she stood back in surprise.

_Annie._ Eren thought, _I think that's her name?_ Eren remembered Connie mentioning something about her.

"_She's fucking strong and kinda mean but she kicks major ass and actually kinda cares about our wellbeing. Sometimes."_

They trained for hours, both Levi and Erwin yelling out formations and commands. It made Eren eager to join. They never learned how to fight physically in heaven; they just had magic. Fighting wasn't really even an option, really. It was uncharted territory, and Eren was excited.

"So what do you think so far?"

"Hm?" Eren turned to Marco, who was sweaty and tired but still preppy and cheerful.

"Of the training? Scared at all?" Jean appeared behind him and rested with his hand behind his back.

"Oh…no." Eren looked out at Connie and Sasha who were sparring ridiculously with each other. "I'm actually kind of excited. It looks fun."

Jean snorted in disbelief, but Marco laughed, "Good luck with that."

"Were actually just about to start flight training." Reiner suddenly popped out of nowhere and straddled the bench next to Eren. "It looks like you'll be able to join in too soon, from the looks of those wings." He gestured towards Eren's back, where the bandaged appendages were pressed against his spine for comfort.

Eren blinked, "Flight training? But flying is easy."

"It's not _just_ flying." Jean rolled his eyes, "It's aerial patterns and shit. You learn to fight in the air."

Eren's shocked expression spurred Marco to explain. He laughed, "It sounds weird but you won't _believe_ how many times we've run into flying demons while were traveling somewhere."

"Especially dragons," Reiner blanched, "Nightmarish fiends."

"Jeez…" Eren rubbed his temple, "And humans can't see them?"

"Nope."

"Ignorant bastards."

Suddenly there was yelling, and his friends were jogging back over to the arena, leaving Eren with even more questions.

* * *

The cafeteria was bustling with noise and excitement that night. The dark angels were nice enough to help him into a seat and grab his food for him. A large group sat around a table chatting enthusiastically, and it made Eren forget his troubles momentarily.

That is, until he leaned back in laughter, and squished his still developing wings against the chair. He cried out in pain and slumped forwards. There was a hand at his back, rubbing out the pain, and he recognized it as Sasha's.

"Aw man," Ymir shook her head and shivered, "I remember when I had to regrow."

"I think we all do." Bertholt scratched his head, "It's hard to forget."

"Don't worry Eren, it'll be better soon," Christa smiled, and Eren nodded, still mentally willing the throbbing to go away.

Sasha complimented, "Yeah, you seem to have adjusted to our lifestyle pretty quickly, actually,"

Eren opened his mouth to reply, but all their heads turned to the center of the cafeteria at a shattering noise.

"You fucking idiot," Levi snapped, looking at the coffee that was now dripping down his torso.

An angel he didn't recognize stuttered, "I-I'm so sorry sir-"

"You better clean this shit up, immediately." Levi barked, "And get me another coffee. You have two minutes before I kick your ass."

The young angel jumped away and dashed towards the bathroom to grab paper towels. Levi stomped away towards Erwin, who was waiting in the doorway with an amused expression. They heard Levi yell, "Don't give me that fucking look-" before they left the room. As soon as the duo left, the room began to lighten again with noise.

"Jeez…" Eren stared at the poor soul scrubbing at the floor, "What's that guy's problem? He may be in charge but he doesn't have to be an asshole."

Reiner rubbed his nose, "Levi has been here for a long time. Almost as long as Erwin."

" And he's really really, _really_ strong." Sasha mumbled. "Like _really_ strong."

"Still, it was just an accident." Eren shoved a spoon full of mashed potatoes in his mouth and muffled, "It's not that big of a deal."

"Well, that's just Levi for ya."

"Yeah…not to mention he's not too keen on messes."

"You'll get used to him."

Eren looked out towards the door, "So…how long _has_ he been here?"

"A millennium." Jean answered shortly.

"No way!" Eren covered his mouth with his hand, "A thousand years?"

Jean rolled his eyes, "That's what I said, idiot."

"If you think that's long, try Erwin." Ymir crossed her arms and leant back in her chair. "Rumor is that he was the first dark angel to, you know, survive. He's the one that started all this freedom corps shit."

"Yep, all the other ones before him were eaten." Christa said sadly.

"Woah…" Eren thought aloud. "That's incredible." _I was only created a hundred years ago._

"It is incredible. That's why they both have all our respect." Sasha smiled.

Eren looked back towards the door one more time before resuming his meal.

* * *

Eren had never felt such excitement before in his lifespan. His newly beating heart was thumping in his chest as Hanji slowly unwrapped his bindings. He could hear the grin in her voice, "Wow Eren…they're beautiful."

"Are they?" Eren craned his neck to look back. She pulled off one final bandage, and threw them in the trash bin.

"Of course," She grasped each of his wings and pulled back, stretching them slowly. Eren looked in the mirror across the room; they were big and black. It was nearly a shock- a part of his brain almost thought they would be white again. But they weren't. They were black as proof of the sin he committed. But nevertheless they were there, and it felt like a piece of his soul had returned.

"Wow!" Eren tried moving them, but Hanji held them tight,

"Try not to move, I need to make sure they're healthy,"

"They are they are-"

She laughed again, "Eren _stop_, please,". She ran her fingers over the feathers and felt the bones underneath. She pulled them out to their full length examining their size. "You're right, they're very healthy. They're going to do you good, Eren." He grinned, and he heard her giggle again, "How cute! There are little grey freckles on some of the feathers!"

"Don't tease," Eren laughed jokingly and hopped off the table. He turned around and wrapped his arms around Hanji in a hug, "Thank you,"

She was surprised at first, but grinned and returned his hug, "You're very welcome Eren. Welcome to the team."

There was a knock on the hospital door, and suddenly a parade of dark angels were jumping into the room.

"Eren! Your wings!"

"Wow they're so pretty!"

"You did it! I Told you man,"

"Congratulations!"

"You're officially one of us!"

Eren was overwhelmed by everyone talking over each other, so he just laughed, "Thanks, guys."

"You know what this means, right?" Ymir grinned.

"Party time!" Christa jumped excitedly.

Eren blinked, "What?"

"We always throw a party for a dark angel getting their black wings," Marco explained.

Eren shook his head, "You guys don't have to do that-"

"But its tradition!" Connie cried out. "You don't have a choice!"

And he really didn't have a choice, because that night everyone gathered in the cafeteria where the cooks prepared deserts and alcohol was bought from human stores. The music was loud, and people were dancing ridiculously on the tables. It wasn't like anything Eren had ever experienced. The parties in heaven were civil, proper and sweet. This was a little overwhelming.

"Drink, Eren!" Reiner was already drunk, hobbling over people and laughing louder than anyone else, "It's _your_ party."

"I've never had alcohol," Eren stared at the cup being offered to him. _It was a sin._

"Don't make him do anything," Bertholt showed up behind the blonde and lightly tapped his head with his fist.

Eren smiled, "I'll just take a little, thanks." Bertholt smiled back shyly.

As the night progressed, he talked to various people and met others that he hadn't gotten the time to speak to. From what Eren noticed, it almost seemed like everyone else needed this party more than he did. The corps was strict and tough, so it was nice to see the hardworking people enjoy themselves.

For Eren this party meant the beginning of his work. It was obvious that everyone had to do their part to make this place function. His shift would actually begin tomorrow; everyone rotated between cooking, cleaning, laundry, and whatever other jobs needed to be done. Surprisingly enough, Eren was looking forward to it. He was looking forward to work; to not being useless. He'd done nothing but sit in bed and read for the past month.

He was brought out of his thoughts when a hand ran through his feathers. He shivered and jumped, turning to see a drunken Connie at his side.

"Oh, sorry, man." Connie snickered, "I just wanted to see them close up- Hanji was right there _are_ little freckles."

Eren rolled his eyes and turned back to watch people dance. He was shocked to see Levi walk through the door, hands in his pockets and skeptical eyes scanning the party. He walked over towards the table and grabbed himself a beer. Eren turned to Connie, "Dude, Levi is here-" but he stopped dead when he noticed Connie was no longer next to him, but dancing with Sasha. He breathed out a laugh to himself and sipped whatever was in his cup.

"Enjoying yourself?"

Eren jumped again and looked at Levi who had taken the seat Connie was in seconds before.

"Jeez you're jumpy. We have to fix that," He sipped the beer.

"Um, sorry. Yeah I'm having fun," Eren turned to observe the party.

"It's a stupid tradition, but it's the only time Erwin allows this shit in here." Levi gestured to the bottle in his hand, "Sneaking it in all the time is annoying."

"Why?"

"Because _alcohol clouds the brain_ or whatever. I personally think its bullshit, but then again I don't get stupid drunk."

"Oh," Eren nodded and looked down at the cup in his hands. "Everyone here is so cool. I can't believe they were all kicked out of heaven."

Levi stared at all the ex-angels having fun. His gaze was almost protective, "Most of them are here for similar reasons."

"Like what?" Eren wanted Levi to keep talking; his presence alone caused light flutters in his stomach he couldn't recognize. He found himself gazing at him again, taking in his astounding presence. He was wearing a studded choker that contrasted his pale skin beautifully.

"Love." Levi said with an annoyed tone. "Either with another angel or a human on earth."

"That's it?" Eren blinked, "But that's so…"

"Yeah, it's fucking ridiculous, but that's heaven for you." Levi leaned back in his chair and took other sip of his beer, "Jean and Marco came here together."

"This just isn't right…" Eren shook his head, "Things shouldn't be this way…"

"Believe it or not almost everyone here got fucked over for seemingly innocent reasons. I mean look at you, Mr. Hero." Levi glanced at Eren, and he felt his own skin flush red. The corporal's lips twitched into a smirk, and then he looked away.

They didn't speak for a moment, only listening to the music someone was playing. Eren summoned the courage to ask, "Why…why are you here?"

Levi's eyes widened, but he didn't look at Eren. He abruptly stood up to leave and said, monotone, "It's none of your concern, newbie," And then he promptly left the room.

* * *

It was dead silent as they scrubbed the bathroom floors. Everyone woke up that morning complaining of horrible hangovers and stomach aches. Eren felt fine, but he hadn't consumed _nearly_ as much alcohol as everyone else did.

He paused halfway through wiping down the mirror, and thought of his conversation with Levi last night. He turned to look at Connie, who had bags under his eyes and an ice pack taped to his head. "Hey, Connie?"

"Hn?" the bald man squinted at him, "Yeah?"

"Does uh…" he looked around before questioning, "Does anyone know what happened to Levi? Like why he got extracted I mean?"

"Oh," Connie returned to mopping the floor, "No, nobody does. Erwin and Levi are a mystery."

"Nothing? No rumors or anything?"

"Tons of rumors, but I bet none of them are true."

"You guys are so fucking loud, can you guys please shut your damn faces for five seconds," Jean popped out of a stall wearing gloves and a mask over his mouth and nose.

Eren spat back, "Go back to cleaning toilets, asshole. That hangover is your damn fault."

"You motherfucker-"

"_Guys_," Connie moaned, holding his head, "Can we please not do this today?"

The sound of Erwin's boots clicking down the hallway instantly stopped the commotion, and all was quiet again. The rest of the day, Eren thought of the corporal.

* * *

When Eren showed up to the arena for training he excitedly walked forwards to join his friends. He wasn't expecting a hand to shove itself in front of his chest. "Where do you think you're going?"

Eren halted and looked to see Levi glaring at him angrily. He was the same height as Eren, if not, a tad bit shorter. "I was going to practice, sir." Eren said respectfully.

"Not with them, you're not."

"I'm not?" Eren tipped his head, slightly resembling a puppy.

"No, you get to play catch up." Levi turned on his heel and began walking forwards. He gestured with his hand, "Come."

"Um," Eren stared blankly at his retreating form before jogging up behind him, "What for?"

"You're nowhere near the level everyone else is." Levi walked onto the grass, "A newly fallen angel's body is still weak. It's used to being spoiled from magic. It's time to learn hard work and pain."

_As if I haven't learnt pain,_ Eren thought. "So…you're going to-"

"Yes." Levi rolled his eyes hard enough to pop them out of his skull, "_I _got stuck with babysitting duty. Now stop asking questions, before you really piss me off. Fifty laps around the arena; go."

"Yes sir." Eren said reluctantly.

* * *

"So," Jean grinned, "First day of training. How was it?"

Eren groaned into his pillow; face down, "Uggh,"

His roommates laughed, and Marco sat down on his bed to comfort him, "We could see you from across the arena. It looked like you were working hard."

"My everything hurts." Eren rolled over so his face was no longer in his bed. He looked up at Marco, "Levi is a fucking asshole."

"You should be grateful," Connie said seriously from his bed, "You're being trained by _Levi_."

"And that's a big deal because…?" Eren crossed his arms.

"Because Levi doesn't train _anyone._" Marco looked across the room to Jean for assurance. Jean nodded, and Marco continued, "Normally new recruits are just trained by stronger ex angels. The corporal never does grunt work like that himself. It's actually a huge deal."

"My muscles can say otherwise." Eren mumbled. _He may be gorgeous but all he did was yell at me all day. _

"Don't be an ungrateful brat." Jean called out, "If he's taking the time to teach you, you need to show him you're dedicated. Or else you might find yourself out of the corps."

Eren groaned.

The next few weeks weren't easy. Training was held every day and his muscles screamed through all of it. The only enjoyable parts were getting to see his new friends every so often.

"Firmer." Levi crossed his arms, "A bigger demon wouldn't even _feel_ that punch."

Eren laid his fist into the punching bag even harder and internally groaned as he felt the bones in his fist complain. He was currently learning the formations he had seen everyone else do. This was just basic training, apparently. Levi said he had to learn how to fight with his body before he got to use any weapons. And so he punched the bag harder and harder until Levi nodded his head and Eren slumped to the ground in a pant.

"You get five minutes," Levi ordered, "And then were teaching you how to fly."

"I already know how to fly." Eren assured.

Levi barked out a sarcastic laugh that caused Eren to shiver. His face was serious as he turned away, "No. You don't."

Eren watched his retreating form before looking down at his bleeding knuckles. This was brutal. Levi was right though, he was used to the spoils of magic. Never feeling pain, never having to use your body to fight. But this almost felt good; it felt real. Like everything before this wasn't. Eren looked back at Levi who was drinking from a canteen. He felt this surge of determination take over his body, _I'll show him. I'll show him that I'm worth the effort. _

"_Harder_ Eren. You'll never get off the ground like that."

Eren flapped his wings as hard as he could; he could only get a few inches of air before his feet crashed back to the ground. He put his hands on his knees and panted- he had been at this for hours. Since when was flying so hard?

"You won't be able to fly from standing still anytime soon." Levi instructed, "It takes practice. Right now you need to try running and jump into it. Again."

Eren took a deep breath, but nodded his head in determination. He took a few steps back on the grass, and then surged into a run. He began to flap his heavy wings and jumped into the air. He got higher this time; but again came crashing back to the ground. When he did he lost balance, and rolled a few times on the grass before landing on his back. He groaned and closed his eyes in pain. When he opened them again, Levi was standing over head with a disappointed look. Eren covered his face, "Why is this so hard?"

"Because." Levi stood back to allow Eren to get back on his feet, "Heavenly wings are light and enchanted so it's easier to fly. Dark wings are heavy, as if to be a burden. You have to take what you get and make something out of it. Again."

_That almost sounded motivational._ He thought. Eren's body screamed in pain but said, "Yes sir," And tried again.

* * *

One morning Hanji showed up in his room, giggling excitedly and pulling him towards her lab. She kept repeating, "So exciting! So exciting!"

Eren allowed himself to be pulled into a dark room, and blinked when Hanji flicked on the lights. She skittered across the room and picked up a jar. She held it in front of his nose, "Look! Look!"

Eren squinted into the jar, "Is that…"

"It is!" Hanji squealed, "It's an alp! Isn't it cute?"

There was a small, nasty looking creature inside the jar. Eren had never seen anything like it; only pictures from all those books he had read. It was hunched over with fangs and a contorted face. It looked at Eren and snarled. Unfortunately for the alp, it was so small, the intimidation level was low.

Eren thought out loud, and tapped the jar, "Wow…a nightmare demon. Hanji, why is it here?"

"Well, you see," She pushed up her glasses, "I found this thing skittering around the bed halls. It's a good thing I found it before nightfall too! Or else someone would have had a very unfortunate sleep, hehe."

"What are you going to do with it?" Eren tapped the glass again, and it hissed at him.

"Why, study it of course!"

"Will Erwin let you do that?"

Hanji paused, her happy face turning blank. She suddenly jumped towards Eren in a panic, "Oh please! Please don't tell him! Or Levi! They'll kill it- it's such a cute little thing- oh _please_ Eren-"

He laughed, and held a hand to her shoulder, "Don't worry, I won't."

"You're a real pal!" She looked so relieved. Eren laughed again, and watched as she locked up the jar in a dark cabinet. "Alright, now time to heal you up."

* * *

It was lonely. Everyone else had left on an expedition, and Eren was left behind because he still couldn't fly. His fighting was mediocre at best, and he still hadn't even picked up a sword yet. He wasn't allowed in the briefing room, so he had no idea what his friends were doing or who they were fighting. It was miserable; he wanted to be out there. He wanted to see earth again and he wanted to get out of this bunker. He rolled over in his bed, groaning in annoyance. There was still so much he didn't understand.

* * *

Eren _knew_ that what he was doing was stupid and ignorant but he couldn't help it. Curfew was hours ago, but he just had to sneak out of bed and return to the training arena. He had to learn how to fly. He just _had _to.

He wanted to prove to Levi that he could do this; that he wasn't weak. Every time Levi gave him that disappointed look his stomach plummeted and he wanted to crawl in a hole and die.

And so he ran and jumped and ran and jumped until his elbows and knees were bleeding. His wings felt like lead, but he continued to stand and try. Eren took a deep breath, and tried his best to clear his mind. He took off running and flapped his wings as he threw himself into the air. He managed to stay up longer this time, and was able to hover a moment before his feathers gave out and he collided with the ground. His breath was labored and he panted as he stared at the ground. He let out a shout of anger and aimed a fist at the grass.

"You're not angling your wings right."

Eren let out a shout and looked to Levi who was walking steadily with his hands in his pajama pants. _He's always sneaking up on me…how did he-_

"I could hear you all the way from the tenth floor." Levi stopped in front of Eren who was kneeling on the ground. He was bloody and gross and was almost ashamed of the man seeing him that way. He was surprised to see a pale hand in front of his face, and he took it graciously. Levi pulled him effortlessly onto his feet and stood back again. "You're going to kill yourself."

"I have to try," Eren looked away in shame, "I want to be useful again."

Levi responded naturally, "_Again_ suggests that you were ever useful at one point." Eren looked away embarrassed. He skeptically looked at Eren, before nodding slowly. "Alright. Then you need to flap your wings like this," Levi unfurled the perfect black wings from his back, and jumped into the air, showing how they moved. It took Eren's breath away. "When you hover, you need to move them up and down. If you want to go somewhere, you need push from front to back. Gravity is bitch but you have to get used to it." He landed his feet back on the ground, and took a few steps back, motioning Eren to try.

Eren breathed, "Okay." And began to run forward. He focused on giving energy to his legs, and pushed his wings down forcefully as he jumped. He was surprised to feel himself launch into the air, and he continued to flap his wings until he was moving forwards at a steady pace. He felt his black wings get heavier, until he was back on the ground again. He rolled a bit, covering himself with more grass and dirt, but looked over at Levi with a huge grin. He put his hands up in the air and yelled, "I did it!"

Levi showed a soft smile on his face before saying, "That landing was terrible. Again."


End file.
